TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) and mixtures of TNT with RDX (such as Composition B) or with ammonium nitrate (such as Minols) are commonly employed as the high explosive charge in artillery projectiles. Such explosive compositions are usually loaded into projectiles by melt/cast operations, wherein the composition is melted, poured into the projectile and allowed to cool and solidify therein. It is also known to produce cast high explosive compositions by solidification of a molten mixture of ammonium nitrate (AN) and ethylenediamine dinitrate (EDDN), including low-melting eutectic mixtures thereof, which may contain other explosive additives, such as RDX (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,110,136).
It is an object of the present invention to provide castable high explosive compositions containing ammonium nitrate without the use of TNT, which as compared with TNT-based explosive compositions, possess similar physical and explosive properties and can be loaded into projectiles with existing melt/cast loading facilities, but are relatively insensitive and inexpensive to manufacture. Other objects will become apparent from the following description of the invention.